Available to booksellers through distributors from Ingram and Baker & Taylor.

Nice Things Said

"Anna's Passion is the engaging
tale of a Napa Valley family in
search of the holiest of grails:
the perfect wine. Led by the
intrepid, temperamental Anna,
the family embarks upon a chaotic
journey encountering romance,
raconteurs, and rogues."
--- Jeffrey Janosko,
Director of Gift Planning,
University of Denver

"...a fine read. Add a glass
of wine, (Napa Valley, of course)
and a favorite chair and you
have a perfect setting."
--- Paul Griffin, California,
retired high school history/government
teacher

Back Cover Blurb

The Napa Valley, three miles wide and thirty-some miles long, was not simply carved out by water flowing between the mountains. The moving tectonic plates have been pulling the mountains apart with the events of the San Andreas network of faults. Evidence of this cataclysmic work are most obvious at the northern end of the Valley where heated groundwater shoots geysers up through fissures and settles down into mud baths with supposedly medicinal properties.

One can begin to understand why Anastasia, raised in this tumultuous environment and earning a living from the product of the same soil, might be constantly on the verge of eruption. How could she not be explosive when the elemental forces under and all about her were in a constant state of unpredictable movement?

Currently there are very few women who are full-time winemakers. No reason they can't succeed; but in the enology classes at Fresno State and U.C. Davis, they are in an acute minority. Anastasia is out to change that perception. Perhaps more women are being appreciated, for as the saying goes, "The times they are a changing."

Anna’s Napa Valley winery has been suffering debilitating attacks, not
from other competing wineries but from an intensely troubled young man. She must take action soon or she will lose everything: the winery, the land, the vines, and the equipment. Even her identity is being threatened.

"I feel it’s a very personal matter. How could he try to stop me from
my destiny? I was born into this life. It is all I know and all I ever
wanted to do. Something eternal happens on this parcel of earth. I
have to do my part to keep it alive."

She must figure a way out. It has to be something dramatic, yet simple, but so effective it will set in his brain forever.

A Review

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In Nick Taddeo's fourth novel, Anna's Passion, which takes place in Napa Valley, Anastasia believes her father is the single greatest obstacle preventing her from gaining complete control of the family winery. She is on her way to developing a fine, perhaps even unique wine, when a series of unexpected events start to happen. First someone attempts to
undermine the winery’s finances, and from there the problems escalate.

Anna is convinced none of the trouble could possibly be caused by her
father or Marco, her ex-husband. Marco, however, complicates her life
because he is both P.R. and chief salesman; therefore, always a
presence. Wanting to expand her options, she goes into a partnership
with her ex and another man. Anna quickly learns the other man cannot
be trusted. She discovers that he is, in fact, her nemesis. So Anna
knows she must take strong measures to stop him. She sets into action
a plan she believes will permanently settle matters with him, but the
results are devastating.

When we asked Taddeo about his great interest in enology, he replied,
"My first experience with making wine came when I was about ten or
eleven. I helped my father press what he called Michigan and
California grapes in our cellar. Breathing the strong aroma issuing
from the fermented must and taking a few sips of the purple juice
caused me to stagger around half intoxicated until I could get out for
some fresh air. I didn’t know at the time I would develop such a
strong interest in the process and the people involved. Pouring from
any bottle brings an endless variety of tastes depending on the
winemaker, the soil, the climate and forever, the grape. So out of
this interest I have managed to write two novels, and yet I go on
studying the subject and tasting the wines."

Reading Anna’s Passion will not only have you moving through the story but also may have you wanting to visit the wine country, and in the
process acquaint you with the joys (as well as the disappointments) of
winemaking and producing one of the world’s most popular beverages.

Anna's Passion was published by Foremost Press. It can be ordered through local bookstores and at ForemostPress.com, and at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com.
ISBN 10: 1-936154-68-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-936154-68-5
192 pp, $12.97